Game On

It was my third date with Michelle. We had seen two movies together, which hadn’t really given me a good chance to talk to her, so I thought we should probably do something different. I still couldn’t tell you what I was thinking when I chose the arcade. I had always remembered liking arcades, but she instantly rolled her eyes.

About fifteen minutes in, I was having fun, but I could tell she was bored. A noticed a strange blue light coming from one of the machines, but it disappeared at almost the exact moment I saw it. In that moment, I realized how terrible the arcade was and turned to ask Michelle if she wanted to go shopping at the mall instead.

But she wasn’t there. Instead, she had picked up a gun from one of those shooting games and actually seemed to be enjoying herself. I found just getting more and more bored, and trying to focus on her instead. I realized I wasn’t even interested in her body anymore -- but her outfit. I knew it would look absolutely stupid on my male frame, but I really wanted to wear it. She paused from playing her game for a moment, gave me a smile as if she knew, and said, “We can go to the bathroom and switch if you want. I’m not comfortable wearing this either. I have no idea why I even own an outfit like this, let alone chose to wear it tonight.”

Old Bones

Svetlana had been sore ever since her performance yesterday, which was never great for her since she worked as a contortionist at the circus. Still, she thought she’d be better after a day of rest; however, when she woke up the next morning, her back was even more sore than the night before.

As she sat backstage, holding her sore back, a pudgy middle aged woman entered. She spoke in a soft voice, “I believe I have something that might belong to you,” and then proceeded to lift herself into a pose Svetlana couldn’t imagine doing right now.

The older woman continued, “I was at the show yesterday. I remembered being jealous, and as I was leaving I saw a strange blue light out of the corner of my eye. I felt more spry, but I couldn’t place why until I found myself moving in impossible ways this morning. I believe I have your contortionist ability.”

Svetlana put her hand on her side. Something inside her knew it was true. It explained the pains; she had the aching bones of a middle age woman now for some reason.

What Doesn't Kill Me...

Su Ji pressed her finger down on her phone, and she noticed a small crack form. She hadn’t pressed too hard, yet there was a sense she had a certain strength she didn’t have not too long ago. She hadn’t yet noticed the huge muscles that had formed all over her body.

Of course, she may never notice. The Role Exchanger swapping traits between two people was often like that. Su Ji might be significantly stronger now with the muscles of a body builder, but she still considered herself to be the small, skinny young woman she always was.

Meanwhile across town at the gym, a man was trying to push his body to he limits while he struggled with a thin feminine body frame. He couldn’t fathom why he wasn’t able to lift as much as he used to or even do a pull up.

Love

John could still remember a time when he loved Amber deeply. After all, that was only about twenty minutes ago before the Role Exchanger hovered over the wedding venue and started switching bodies, personalities, and emotions around. It was just trying to understand the human concept of “love,” but none of the guests realized this. They were all just dealing with new bodies and new feelings.

For instance, John was now in the body of Amber’s friend Lacey. His love changed, too. From a romantic attraction to a long-standing friendship. He knew he once was, he just -- well, he no longer fit that role. Whoever was in his body now seemed happy enough to be dancing with Amber; if that even was still technically Amber. He didn’t really have any way of knowing. It wasn’t like he was going to tell people he was anyone other than Lacey either...

Deadlift

Things just didn’t seem right in the world this morning as I walked to the gym. I saw moms crying and being comforted by their small children. I saw grown men giggling. I still didn’t think I was prepared for what I saw when I walked out of the locker room.

She was a small women -- probably less than a hundred pounds -- and yet she was deadlifting nearly four times her weight. Her build was remarkably average, no huge muscles to think of. I didn’t want to stare, but I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping. Then she spoke.

“Everything okay? What are you staring at?” She asked with the voice of a husky man that sounded quite familiar.

“Joe?” I asked, not quite believing the guy was inside this petite feminine body.

“What’s you problem? You’re acting like we don’t see each other every day.”

I wanted to ask how he couldn’t not notice his body was completely different. I wanted to point out he was now a woman. Then I realized calling someone who can deadlift 400 pounds a woman if they didn’t realize they were one might be a bad idea.

Taking Out the Trash

My neighbor Gretchen worked as a ballet dancer at a prestigious art center in the city. I could never bring myself to admit my secret crush on her, but I made enough nervous small talk to get to know quite a bit about her.

And on that warm summer morning, it was an absolute surprise to see wearing a sanitation worker uniform collecting the trash from my curb. She was doing it with the sort of grace and elegance that made me wonder if it was some sort of performance art piece.

“What’s going on, Gretchen?” I asked, trying to invoke our usual small talk.

She replied with what sounded like a mix of a snarl and a grunt but still delivered in her typically sweet voice, “Who the hell is Gretchen?”

I fumbled through some things that probably weren’t words like “um” or “uh” before Gretchen’s body spoke again.

“I’ve been collecting trash on this street for like 20 years and you don’t even know my name?” Gretchen’s body said, “It’s Anthony! Maybe you should try saying hello to some of the schmucks who do your dirty work around here!”

“Um...hello...Anthony,” I managed to say to Gretchen’s body. It was weird, but Anthony didn’t seem all that away he was now even in Gretchen’s body or take too much notice to the graceful way he was now moving...

Fascinating

Lexi didn’t have words for what was happening to her. She could feel her body changing, even the parts that she couldn’t see. Her blonde hair was getting frizzy; her toned abs were becoming a beer belly; and there was an obvious change to her gender. But the weirdest part was seeing the changes happening in reverse to the nerdy guy she had just completely brushed off and ignored.

He still had his glasses, and he still had his dark hair -- but it was styled like hers had been. Even his clothes had morphed into the style like she had been wearing.

“I don’t...I don’t know what’s happening,” He tried to explain to Lexi with a voice that was almost sultry, “I didn’t ask for this! I don’t want this!”

“Do you think I did!? Do you think anyone would want to look...like this!?” Lexi shouted while gesturing at her new male body.

The strange blue light of the Role Exchanger passing over them paused for a moment. It hesitated as it studied the changes it had made. It thought about making the two subjects unaware of the changes to them, but studying their awareness of their respective transformation seemed to be far more fascinating...

Can't Play Ball for Sh*t (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Can't Play Ball for Sh*t.

Albert (or “Al” as he liked to be called) returned home early from his date wondering just what had gone wrong. People at the restaurant had stared at him from the moment he entered. When his date arrived and saw him, she shouted a few homophobic slurs before storming off. It had been like this ever since he saw a glimpse of that weird blue light a few days ago. For a moment, he had felt like everything was wrong, but the feeling passed so quickly. A similar feeling happened later in the day, but instead of feeling like everything was wrong, he felt like something was very right. In particular, it was his love of fashion: the dresses, the high heels, the jewelry. He loved dressing girlie and showing off his styles!

It became clearer and clearer as the days passed that others didn’t share his enthusiasm, and that societal pressure was getting to him. He didn’t want to tone it down or dress more manly. His fashion sense was the one thing he was absolutely sure about himself! And that brought back memories of the glimpse and the feeling of everything being wrong. What if everything else WAS wrong? What if this wasn’t his body? Or his life? What if he wasn’t Albert at all?

Another name flashed in his head and he quickly jotted it down. “Al...lison.” Allison. It seemed so wild. A woman? Seriously? Al wanted to laugh it off completely, and yet he looked down at his clothes. He knew they were right; he knew it must be true. But how?

Can't Play Ball for Sh*t (Part 1)

Part 2 is up for A Little Shift supporters on DeviantArt!

The petite Asian woman was a little over five feet tall walking up to Tyler and Leroy, who were both probably more than a foot taller than her. She challenged them to a bet that she could beat them both on the court, two against one, and held up $500. They thought it would be the easiest cash they ever made; they were shocked when the small woman seemingly defied gravity to dunk on them and completely pwn the game.

The men were gracious in defeat, handing over the bet but still very curious. “It’s like that movie ‘White Men Can’t Jump,’” Tyler explained, “Except I think our expectation was like ‘Short Asian Ladies Can’t Play Ball for Sh*t.’ Who the hell are you? How the hell did you do all that?”

“Al, short for Allison,” Allison said, “It used to be Albert, I think.”

“Are you trans or something?” Leroy asked, “That still doesn’t explain it.”

“No, that would be normal!” Allison explained, “But I’m not sure you’ll believe me if I told you.”

“After what we just saw, I think we’ll believe anything.”

“There was this weird blue light in the city yesterday. It changed people by swapping traits...it changed people in ways you couldn’t imagine. Fat people got skinny; skinny people got fat; people swapped genders. The weird part was that no one seemed to notice; no one except for me. It swapped me completely into Allison’s body, and I followed it around watching the chaos it caused. But it eventually noticed me. It somehow sensed how unhappy I was about being in her body; somehow I knew this as well. And so while it didn’t give me my body back, it did give me back my basketball skills while taking something for the original Allison as well. And this light was like magic, so my skills are like what my O.G. body could do, no matter what I look like now.”

“So what were you like before?”

“I have no idea. Once it gifted me my skills back, I couldn’t see it anymore. I couldn’t see other people’s changes anymore either. But I still remember that the changes happened. Essentially, it’s like I’ve always been Allison even though I know I haven’t. Every now and again, a little piece or memory pops in, but it’s usually fleeting. I literally have no way of knowing.”

Unnoticed (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Unnoticed.

The Role Exchanger had affected Allison while she was in the kitchen as well. Just as Kevin was unaware that his entire body (except for his poor eyesight and glasses) had been swapped with the attractive woman in the apartment above them, Allison was didn’t notice how the Role Exchanger had affected her either.

She had gained the muscle mass and height of a man passing by outside doing his daily workout. In addition, she also gained an assertive and bisexual attitude from another neighbor.

When Kevin (now technically considering herself a her) expressed her love upon her return, she couldn’t help but respond by picking her up and planting a giant kiss on her face. Kevin responded by kissing back. As husband and wife, none of this was new to them. But they both observed how clumsy and awkward they were as they made their way to the bed.

“It’s like I don’t know what I’m doing...as if we’re experimenting together for the first time,” Kevin observed without realizing quite how right she was thanks to the Role Exchanger.

Unnoticed (Part 1)

Kevin considered himself a very lucky guy. He had always been a dork for long as he could remember, enjoying things like comic books and video game while excelling at school. Yet he still managed to find himself a cute and wonderful wife, Allison. He looked up from the computer game he was playing to tell her how much he loved her. She responded in kind before excusing herself to the kitchen for a snack.

As he continued to play, he swore his screen flashed blue for a moment. He was worried it could be a crash, so he quickly saved. But the blue wasn’t coming from his screen; it was coming from some place else. It was like the whole world went blue for a second. But that didn’t make any sense. Kevin returned to the computer.

Allison returned a short while later. It didn’t seem possible, but Kevin was convinced she was even more beautiful than when she left.

“Sometimes I consider myself a very lucky girl,” Kevin said aloud to Allison, “I’ve always been a dork and a lesbian, but to find someone as special as you...I’m just lucky, I guess.”

Allison lifted the now female Kevin into her strong arms and gave him a big kiss. Neither were away of the changes to their bodies or their minds caused by the Role Exchanger that simply drifted off to find more people to swap around...

Over the Fence

Duncan had heard rumors online about a magazine photoshoot for swimsuit models and thought he could sneak a peak. The area seemed to be all fenced off and surrounded by security, but Duncan was convinced he could sneak over the fence. As he began to do so, he spotted a blue light out of the corner of his eye.

He wondered if he had fallen off the fence and hit his head. One of the security guards was yelling at him, but not in the way he expected. He was holding a camera and shouting things like, “Give me a pout, baby,” and “Come on, work it.” Duncan felt compelled to oblige. He pouted and posed for the guard, who took all sorts of photos. There was a whole crew. It sunk in slowly for Duncan, but he realized he was acting just like a supermodel at a photoshoot. And he was even wearing a swimsuit and had a woman’s body! But despite how they were treating him, he hardly looked like a supermodel. He had glasses and graying hair; he was probably around 50 years old. He also seemed to be the only one who thought there was anything strange about any of this!

He had no idea it was all due to the role exchanger that he saw while hopping the fence. It had given him the supermodel’s job and life, but with the body of the middle aged woman who worked as her agent. The photographer, of course, now had the security guard’s body while a random member of the crew now had the supermodels’s body...

Changes (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Changes.

Jim arrived at the beach feeling exhausted from the run. He had been in pretty good shape, so he could only assume that along with his race and gender, his athleticism had swapped with someone as well. Another issue soon arose. If his wife had experienced the swaps like everyone else, how would he even be able to recognize her?

Fortunately, he didn’t have to. After walking around aimlessly for a bit, he heard his name being shouted. He turned to see a man laying there wearing his wife’s bikini (and still filling the top out nicely with the bottoms now being filled out in a manly way). Much like everyone else besides Jim, she was thinking this was all perfectly normal. As Jim took a seat next to his wife, he tried to think of a way to convince her of everything that wouldn’tmake him seem crazy.

Changes (Part 1)

Jim was on vacation with his wife at a beautiful island resort. Early one morning, he went out to play some basketball while his wife decided to lounge at the beach. As he played against a few other guys, he noticed a blue light out of the corner of his eye, and then things got strange.

One of the guys he was playing with gained a lot of weight, while a chubby woman nearby seemed to gain his muscle tone. Another one complained about breaking a nail on what Jim noticed were perfectly manicured now. Jim certainly wasn’t immune, as he looked at his reflection in some shiny equipment to see an Asian version of himself looking back. He seemed to be the only one to notice everything was changing around him.

The moment that really concerned him was when a stray dog on its hind legs approached and spoke, asking to join the game. It must’ve swapped minds with a human! And that person didn’t notice! Jim needed to check on his wife. As he ran from the court to the beach, the next change he could feel. He switched genders with a woman! He was worried that his large shorts would fall down as he ran due to his smaller frame. His chest felt awkward as he ran without the support of a sportsbra. He didn’t care; he needed to see if his wife was okay.

Oui, Monsieur!

Becoming a tech billionaire had turned Max into a complete jerk. He loved using throwing his money around to show his power. On a personal level, this didn’t attract many girlfriends, so he often resorted to hiring “escorts.”

Max was actually Roxanne’s first client. When she arrived, Max threw an outfit at her and told her to change. He smiled as she came out of the other room wearing the outfit he picked out. But when she opened her mouth to speak with a thick Brooklyn accent, he was angry. He didn’t think this was the classy escort he had been promised at all! Not that it would stop him at all as he undid his belt.

The Role Exchanger had other plans. The blue glow paused over Roxanne and Max, pulsing through them and a few other people nearby, swapping a number of traits between them all.

Max now stood in Roxanne’s body instead of his own. He felt nervous and shy. He quickly bowed to Roxanne, who was now in his former body.

Max now spoke with a soft feminine voice with a French accent, “What shall you have me, how you say, accompleesh?”

“Better start cleaning, you are my maid, aren’t you?”

“Oui, Monsieur!” Max bowed.

Halftime (Part 2)

View Part 1 here.

Stephanie coughed when the pink smoke puffed out from behind the cheerleaders. She thought she was going to die, but then suddenly felt stranger -- though much less flexible. Just about everything felt wrong, and when she looked down to see two very manly pecs in place of her own feminine chest, she screamed. Her voice was deeper than she expected, which only made her want to scream again. She looked over to the players to see her own body sitting there in Bryan’s uniform. She looked down at her new muscles again. They certainly looked like his! She had spent plenty of time admiring his body from afar, and now she was going to be able to examine it in a way that was closer than any woman should ever be able to! She was Bryan! And he was her! Chaos ensued for the rest of halftime, but the officials (who were unswapped) insisted the game go on. It was decided the cheerleaders with the players bodies would be the ones to take the field. Stephanie was nervous. She didn’t know anything about how to actually play football, and she was also very worried that she was going to get hurt!

Halftime (Part 1)

It was halftime at the football game. Bryan knew his team was down by a touchdown, but he was sure they could make it up in the second half. Truth be told, he loved halftime. Cheerleaders would take the field and he could just watch and enjoy. As they were doing their routines, he saw more pyrotechnics than he expected. There were sparks and a weird pink smoke that seemed to extend all the way to where the players sat and also blocked his view. When it cleared all the cheerleaders had been replaced by buff guys wearing the cheerleaders’ uniforms. Bryan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be disgusted. But then he realized the guys were his fellow teammates, and even stranger -- one of the guys was him!

Then he looked down. It was hard to tell beneath his own uniform, but something was different. The hands that stuck out of from the sides were smaller and thinner. The dainty fingers he now possessed had painted nails. He was a chick! He one was one the cheerleaders! How could he possibly continue to play football like this!? The other players and the cheerleaders were freaking out as well.

Worth Every Penny

Always pay for an upgrade; that was Kevin’s motto when he went on vacation. He knew he could afford it, so why not pay for the absolute best options? This seemed to be particularly relevant on his trip to Exchange Island. An upgraded pass meant he not only got a private bungalow right on the ocean, but it also meant he was able to pick which body he swapped with, instead of switching at random. He hadn’t expect to pick a woman’s body, but when he was going through the photos the resort had sent to him, something about her just grabbed him. As he sat outside his bungalow with the cool ocean air blowing across his skin, he knew the extra money was well worth it.

Yardwork

Jason’s wife had asked him to take some time to work on the yard; instead, he sat down on the hammock and took a nap. As he slept, a blue light passed overhead, covering the neighborhood. When he awoke a few hours later, he was in shock. This body and these clothes, neither were his. He wasn’t sure if he weighed more than 100 pounds while soaking wet, and he was a woman! He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do his yardwork like this. He went inside; his wife was there. She was on the couch playing video games with a baseball cap on. She didn’t ask him about the yard; she didn’t care anymore. He sat down next to her and picked up another controller. He played for a bit, but he realized it didn’t interest him much now. This was all so weird. What was going on here?

Restaurant

Pablo had been working as a bus boy for about a year now. The restaurant where he worked didn’t pay well, but it was enough. It was a miserable job that was often made worse by the owner, who liked to yell pretty much constantly, even when everyone was doing a great job. From time to time, the owner’s wife would come in instead. She was an Asian woman, about twenty years younger than the owner, and much, much nicer. Pablo often wondered what she saw in him. It was a particular relief when she showed up instead of him on busy weekend nights, as was the case on one particular Saturday.

After all the guests left late in the night, Pablo and the crew cleaned up. The owner’s wife continued to supervise. Then, just before they were done, something odd happened. A flash of blue light engulfed the restaurant. Suddenly, Pablo realized things were very different.

He had swapped bodies with the owner’s wife, and he was freaking out. He didn’t want to be a woman! And he didn’t want to go home to that brutish guy! She tried to calm Pablo down, giving him some strategies to fake being her and deal with her husband. She was sure they’d find a way to swap back, and he hopefully wouldn’t have to deal with this for too long. Pablo was less sure of all that...